Insanity
by PuddingMeow
Summary: When Armin and his friends found out that they're being hunted by someone, they found out Christa is actually the mayor's daughter, and their lives will not be as peaceful as they think. Modern AU (Cover picture not mine)
1. Chapter 1

_Note #65:_

 _I feel strange today. Eren and Mikasa didn't seem to feel so. I felt like we were being watched and followed by someone. At the bookshop when we were working as usual. At the mall when we were having dinner with our friends. Heck, I even thought that someone was following us back to our apartment. I hope that I'm wrong. Should I tell Eren and Mikasa about this?_


	2. Chapter 2

Armin woke up a little earlier than Eren and Mikasa today. He hoped to have a jog at the park to calm his mind.

What happened yesterday still unsettled his nerves. He changed quietly, not wanting to wake his friends. Eren could be a little grumpy if he doesn't get enough sleep.

Armin wanted to tell his friends what he felt yesterday, but he is unsure how they would react to this. Eren might freak out and Mikasa will probably be worried. But if he doesn't say anything, something terrible might happen. He just felt that somehow. It felt like they've been living a too peaceful life. Not like it's bad or anything, but he felt like it was the calm before the storm.

 _I'll tell them about that later, Armin thought._

xXoXx

When Armin got back, Eren and Mikasa were having breakfast.

'Hey Armin,'

'You're back. Where have you gone to?' Mikasa asked.

'Oh, I just went for a morning run,'

'Do you want bread?'

'Yeah.'

When he chewed on his bread, Armin thought about what he should say next. But Mikasa said something first.

'Eren, Armin, did you two feel something strange yesterday, like someone following us?'

'Mikasa, you noticed it too?' Armin was relieved. Mikasa noticed it, so it will be easier to convince Eren, if he didn't know what was going on.

'Huh? You two saw something too? I thought I was the only one who did!'

'What did you see, Eren?' Armin questioned.

'When we were cleaning the bookshop, I saw some strange dude who was staring at us through the window panes. He was tall and skinny. Like, the slenderman, you know,' Eren explained.

'Eren, you've been playing too much video games,' Mikasa said.

'Hey, I think we should be focusing on the slenderman guy, not me!'

'Yeah. After that, no video games for a month. For you.'

'What?! Mikasa, how could you do that to me?'

'That's because-'

'Hey guys? What about the creepy guy now?'

Mikasa sighed. 'I guess we could tell Levi or something.'

'Seriously? You don't have a better idea?'

'Oh, then let's hear about your supposedly genius idea that will help us get out of trouble, Eren.'

'The person you should be asking is Armin, not me. He's the brain here.'

'We should tell Levi. Or Mr Erwin.'

'Really, Armin?'

'Yeah. And you better get changed in five minutes so because we can really do without cleaning duty for the damn month.'

'What? It's nine already?' Eren hastily shoved the bread into his mouth and rushed to their bedroom to get changed.

'I'll go and start the car,' Mikasa said.

xXoXx

When the trio arrived at the bookshop, they were greeted by a not-so-happy Levi.

'You goddamned brats are late. Again,' Levi scolded.

'We're sorry, Levi! We didn't mean to-'

'Save your excuses. You three have been late three times in a row this month now. You will be cleaning the second floor for the next thirty days. Starting from today.'

'What? But-'

'Shut up and get to work!'

'… Yes Levi.'

They went to get the cleaning supplies and started wiping the books one by one.

'You know Eren? This is technically your fault.'

'Shut up, Armin.'

They continued cleaning in silence.

'What about the dude?'

'We'll tell Mr Erwin after we get the job done today. That is, if we even able to finish today,' Armin told Eren.

'Why can't we go see Mr Erwin now?'

'He's probably busy at this time. And I doubt Levi would be very happy to know that we have not finished cleaning when the shop closes.'

'Oi, are you brats cleaning or chatting up there?' Levi yelled from the counter, obviously angry.

They quickly resumed cleaning as fast as possible and trying to make them spotless at the same time.

xXoXx

They somehow managed to finish cleaning the entire floor and reached Levi's expectations just before the shop was closing. They immediately went to Erwin's office.

'Ready?' Armin prepared himself.

'Ready.'

He knocked on the door.

'Come in.'

They pushed open the door and walked inside the spacious room. There were bookshelves with files arranged neatly on it. In the middle back of the room was Mr Erwin and his table, which was piled with papers.

'So, what brings you three here?' Erwin asked.

'Um, Mr Erwin, we're like, facing a problem here,' Eren answered.

'We noticed a tall and slim person following us around yesterday, Mr. We were worried that the person have bad intentions towards us so we decided to tell you about this issue,' Armin continued.

'Oh, is that so? Why don't you just go to the police?'

'We were afraid that the police would not trust us, Mr. We did not have any evidence that a person may be doing so,' Armin answered.

'Hmm, you're right about that, Armin. Maybe you three could live at your friend's house for a few days and see what happens. If you see that person again, try to take a picture of him. The police might be able to help you this way,' Erwin voiced his opinion.

'Thank you for your advice, Mr.'

'Anything for my fellow workers.'

xXoXx

After leaving the bookshop, Eren, Mikasa and Armin went to dinner with their friends: Jean, Sasha, Connie, Christa, Ymir, Annie, Reiner and Bertolt, as usual. They told them about the stalker. Reiner and Bertolt offered to let them stay at their house for a few days. Their other friends wanted to help too, so they decided to all stay at Reiner and Bertolt's together.

What they didn't notice is a person wearing a coat watching them from a nearby table.


	3. Chapter 3

A week has passed since the creepy guy incident. None of them have seen the guy again. Eren, Mikasa and Armin were walking to Reiner and Bertolt's house with their friends. The sun has already set and the moon was high in the sky.

They were in a dark alleyway, which apparently is a shortcut that Reiner had told them. It could turn the thirty minute walk into a five minute one. The trio was talking and chatting happily. Sasha and Connie were debating about chocolates. Annie and Christa just watched the others quietly. Ymir looked bored. Jean was sending text messages on his smartphone.

Suddenly, a man jumped out from a dark corner. He looked at Christa.

'Hey, Historia, long time no see.'

Eren and the others immediately stood in front of her protectively.

'Who are you? What do you want?'

The man ignored Eren's questions. He still stared at Christa.

She was shocked. Her lips trembled, but couldn't make a sound.

'Why did y-you come? I didn't break the promise!' Christa cried.

'Your dad told me to. Now, please follow me or have your friend's lives get as miserable as they could,' he said sarcastically.

'No. Christa is not going with you.'

'Fine, if that's what you wish,' he scowled. 'By the way, my name is Kenny. And Historia, remember our little promise.'

He smiled, and disappeared into the alleyways.

'Christa, I think you owe us an explanation.' Jean didn't look so happy.

Christa's face was as pale as a ghost. 'I-I…'

'Shut up, Jean. Christa is tired. We'll talk tomorrow morning. Or we could stay here and get mugged by some other guy instead.' Ymir hugged Christa and patted her reassuringly.

'Ymir's right, Jean. We should get back to the house first. This place is definitely unsafe. We should not use this shortcut again,' Armin said.

xXoXx

'So, Christa, can you tell us what happened?' Reiner asked.

After bathing at the relatively large house, everyone sat in the living room, with serious expressions on their faces.

She took a deep breath, and began her story.

'I'm the daughter of Rod Reiss-'

'What?' Jean shouted. 'You're the daughter of Rod Reiss?'

'Who's Rod Reiss?' Connie asked. 'Seriously, who's that guy?'

Everyone sighed at Connie's stupidity.

'Rod Reiss is the mayor of Sina.' Sasha rolled her eyes. 'He collects extremely high taxes from the residents and businessmen. He said the money will be used to renovate the city and stuff. It's basically an excuse to make himself wealthy because he never actually really did anything except keeping them in his bank. He also allows all kinds of bad stuff, like drug trading, as long as it makes him money. He is the reason that eighty percent of the population consists of thugs, robbers, poor men and women, etc.'

Connie nodded, and everyone sighed again.

'As I was saying, I am the daughter of Rod,' Christa continued. 'My real name is Historia Reiss. Kenny is a friend of Rod. My mother died when she born me. Kenny somehow convinced him that I was a devil because of that. Rod let him beat me to half-death before putting me on a doorstep of a house in Shingansina.

'A nice old couple was living there. They took pity of me and adopted me. I never told them about Rod and Kenny though. They gave me my current name, Christa Lenz. I lived peacefully until the year before I met you all.

'I finally dared to tell the couple about my past. It turns out that they were once residents of Sina, but was forced to move away to somewhere else because they can't pay the tax. They told me that they would file a police report tomorrow. I went to the university the next day as usual.

'When I came back, I couldn't find them anywhere in the house. I thought they went to the police station so I didn't think too much. The next day, when I came home, I… I found them. Dead. You guys read the news, didn't you?'

'You mean The Murder of Shingansina?' Armin asked. Historia nodded.

Armin look at his two friends worriedly. Eren looked like he was nervous as hell, and Mikasa pulled her scarf over her mouth.

'What's wrong?' Sasha was worried about her friends' strange behaviour.

'Well, you know, we, uh, live just beside the crime scene,' Eren explained quickly. 'And, I-'

'Eren, it's okay if you don't want to say it.' Armin looked at Eren worriedly.

'No… Armin, uh, help me say the rest.'

'Guys, this is getting really creepy,' Connie said.

'Shut up, Connie.'

'Right. About the murder. Eren and Mikasa usually live at the dorm since his mother was… gone. That day however, they went back to get something from the house. When they were leaving, Eren heard someone scream in that house, and it was abruptly cut off in the middle. He told Mikasa, I think? But they didn't pay any attention to it. They left after that.'

'Hey, Mikasa, when is it when you two heard the scream?' Ymir typed something on her phone.

'It's about a quarter to four, if I remember correctly.'

'Well looks like we got our accurate time of death, and a possible witness?' She held up her phone for everyone to see.

It was a news article about the murder. Ymir highlighted a specific line: _The predicted time of death is between 1400 and 1800._

'Real creepy.'

'Shut up, Connie.'

'What happened after, Chris- Historia?' Ymir asked.

'I reported it to the police, of course. But that night, I found out that Kenny had left a letter for me in my bag. I still have it on me. Here.'

She took out a piece of paper from her backpack and handed it to Ymir. She read it out loud.

 _Dear_ _Historia,_

 _This is the outcome of your doing._

 _Your father told me to check on you every week. You didn't even notice me once, though. How pathetic. My so called 'mission' is to make sure you didn't spill the beans to anyone. If you did, I can kill him/her/them. Well, you didn't get so lucky. Grandpa and grandma were destined to die the second you told them about me and Rod. You were the one who signed them a death warrant. You killed them._

 _Well, I'm here to laugh and make fun of you. But, I'm still worried about Rod turning me in to the police. Although probably can kill them with ease, I prefer myself walking on the streets a free man, or killer, in my case. Killing police every day will make me sick. So yeah, fuck Rod._

 _I've decided to give you a knife to stab Rod in the back, if you want to. Here's a complete list of the corrupt people like police and doctors and such in Sina. It will probably grow ten times larger in a few months but I don't give a fuck as long as Rod's going down. Into the drain. Send it to the police without letting them know the hell who you are will do just fine. And by police, I mean the Trost Police Department, not the one that Rod had founded, the fucking Military Police. It is so fucked up that if you're in there, you'll drop to the lowest level of hell if you die and never get out of that place again._

 _About the killing today, my intention isn't to protect Rod and me, it's actually only me. So yeah, you tell someone about me, they die. Is that fucking clear enough?_

 _Regards,_

 _Kenny_

'That's all.'

'Ymir, do you seriously have to read out the swear words?'

'Not like anyone cares anyway.'

'So after receiving this thing, I never dared to tell anyone about him. And I'm sorry, guys. This is probably the last time we would see each other again. Alive, at least.'

'What.'

'We're going to die?' Sasha screamed. 'I still haven't had enough chocolate yet!'

'Sasha, you know you eat chocolate almost every day.'

'I know, Connie, but it's still not enough! And I'm still young! I don't want to die!'

'Hey, that Kenny guy probably only killed two old men in his life. So what are we worrying about? We got, like, nine people here. And we're still young. You tell me, how could he possibly kill any of us? And the list? I bet the names are all fake. It's just a trick to make Historia to go back to Sina in some kind of way. So, this meeting is now officially over and let's get some sleep. I'm super tired right now,' Jean concluded, and yawned.

The teens nodded.

And a truck crashed into the house.


	4. Chapter 4

_Bang!_

A truck crashed through the walls of the house and stopped just behind them. Debris flew everywhere. Something red fell out from behind the truck. A man jumped out from the driver's seat.

It was Kenny.

'Historia, I am very disappointed. You broke our promise. So now, it's the consequences you have to bear.' He lighted a match and threw it at a large group of explosives in the truck.

'Run!' someone shouted, and they did.

The explosives exploded. Flames surrounded them instantly, but also pushed them out of the house, into the air. They flew for a few seconds, and fell in the lake beside the house, which helped them put out the fire on them.

The teens floated to the surface quickly. They helped each other and swam to safety. Most of them had burns on their body, but nothing serious.

'So, horse-face, do you still doubt that guy now?' Eren said mockingly.

Jean ignored him and lied down on the grass.

'Hey Reiner, what do you think your mother and father will say?' Bertolt stared at the house that was now crumbling and burning down to ashes.

'I don't know. Your mom and dad probably won't mind, though. They have so much money that they can buy hundreds of houses like this.'

The teens either lied on the grass or stared at the night sky.

'Say, isn't it dangerous here? I mean, Kenny literally blew the house up and we're still here.' Armin finally said something.

'Yeah true, but where could we go to?' Eren walked over to him.

'Probably Hange's.'

xXoXx

A few moments later, they arrived at a relatively large house. Hange was standing at the door, smiling. She had brown hair that was messily tied up into a ponytail. She also wore a pair of goggles. She wore a white lab coat with a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

'Hey there! Wow! I never had so many guests at once! And that they brought exciting stories with them! I can't wait to hear about what happened back there! Armin told me that something had happened. I bet a massive UFO crashed into the house! Or the-'

'Hange, could you not see that it is two in the morning now and we're drenched?' Eren frowned. His clothes are soaked with water and sticking to his skin uncomfortably. 'And how did you know we were staying at our friend's house?'

'Oh, my apologies! Come on in!' Hange moved aside. The teens stepped in and Hange closed the door.

The room was quite big. Some couches sat at the middle of the room. A television was hung on the wall. A hallway at the side of the room led to more rooms and a staircase.

'Okay, you're soaked, so you all need a bath and a change of clothes. The bathroom is the first room to the left of the corridor there. You can get some clothing upstairs in the storeroom. When you're done, just sleep at the couch. We'll talk tomorrow,' Hange stated.

'Hange, you still haven't answer my second question. And are you sure that the clothes in the storeroom aren't covered in dust?' Eren sat on the couch and glanced at Hange.

'Erwin told me 'bout that. And Levi cleans like the world is ending. I doubt that you will even find a speck of dust in my house.'

'Oh. Right. I forgot you three live together. I kinda feel sorry for Erwin. Poor man lives with a clean freak and a crazy woman,' Eren said.

'I'll take that as a compliment. Now go bathe and we'll talk tomorrow,' Hange said and walked up the stairs.

xXoXx

'Are you sure that you want to hear what happened? You really might die, you know.'

Everyone had gathered at the living room. Erwin and Levi had joined them too.

Levi sighed.

'Shut the fuck up and fucking talk.'

Armin, who was chosen to by the teens to speak, took a deep breath and told the adults what happened. Hange and Erwin said nothing. Levi's face was as white as a sheet of paper, and he was no longer sitting on the couch but standing, a knife in his hand.

'Whoa, whoa, Levi, calm down. '

'Historia, are you sure the fucker's name is Kenny?' Levi turned his head, as if he was searching for something. Historia nodded.

'We're dead,' he simply said. 'We're going to die. There's no way out.'

'Levi, do you know this man?' Erwin said. 'And besides, if he came, you can fight him. Aren't you the strongest here?'

'Do in know him? Yes! He's my fucking mentor! Before I left Sina, he taught me how to fight! He taught me how to hold a knife! And you want me, to kill my teacher? He can fucking take on a whole army by himself with only a knife! Tell me, Erwin, tell me, how can I kill him when I can't even fight him? Tell me!'

Armin was speechless. _How can it be like this? Is there really no way out of this situation?_

'Reporting this to the police is the only thing we can do now.' Erwin walked to the front door.

'That won't be much of use.

Everybody turned to the terrifyingly familiar voice.

'It was quite fun to see my dear student giving up, you know. After going through so much, he gave up at the mention of my name. Am I that terrible?' Kenny laughed.

Levi grabbed the knife and charged towards Kenny, only to be tripped and fell on the floor. The knife fell out of his grasp. He tried to get up but Kenny stepped on him and picked up the knife.

'The student can't beat the teacher,' Kenny said as he sliced open Levi's throat. Blood gushed out from the wound as he gasped for air. More air. And he died.

The teens quickly ran to the front door. They tried to open it, but it was locked. They turned around. Hange and Erwin was fighting Kenny.

'Run!' Erwin shouted as Kenny stabbed Hange right in the heart, ending the woman's life.

Kenny watched the teens screaming and running away from him. He laughed like a maniac. 'I'll find you!' he yelled, and snapped Erwin's neck.

He turned around, preparing to search for the teens. They would not escape his trap. He saw Historia standing there, trembling. Ymir was pulling her hand.

'Well, well, well, what do we have here?'

'Don't you dare hurt her! I'll kill you!' Ymir snarled.

'Come on. Give it a try! Maybe you'll succeed,' Kenny challenged.

'Ymir, don't! He'll kill you!' Historia whispered.

Ymir turned her head to look at Historia. 'Historia…'

'I like you. You know when to give up.' Kenny walked to them and knocked the girls out with a swift punch.

xXoXx

Sasha ran to the kitchen and hid in a cupboard. She cried silently and hoping that the crazy murderer wouldn't find her.

She heard a creaking sound, and turned around. There was only utensils and plates there.

'Found you.' She heard someone whisper. Something hit her head, and everything went black.

xXoXx

Connie ran upstairs with Reiner. They checked the windows one by one, but all of them are duct taped-shut.

'Smash it! Smash the window!' Reiner whispered as they ran into a bedroom and locked the door. Connie took a chair and hit the window again and again, but not even a crack appeared.

'It won't break!' Connie said as the chair broke in two.

'Find something else! Quick!' Reiner scanned the room quickly. He spotted a baseball bat under the bed.

Just as he was about to tell Connie about that, he heard gunshots. He felt pain. He stumbled, and the door flew open. He felt nausea. More pain. He fell to the ground. The world started to fade around him. He can barely make out a tall figure pointing something at Connie.

More pain. A gunshot.

Black.

xXoXx

Annie and Bertolt ran into a room and locked the door. The room was empty except for a small vase at a corner.

Annie and Bertolt sat down. A wave of hopelessness washed over them. Annie thought about her friends. Sure, she may be apathetic, but they were her friends. She cared for them.

'I'll go help them.' Annie stood up.

'W-What? Annie, are you hearing yourself? The guy, Kenny. He'll kill you!' Bertolt grabbed Annie's hand.

'If I we're to choose between living with the guilt of letting my friends die by themselves or die with them, I'd choose the latter.'

'B-but, Annie, I know this is not the right time to say this, but I l-love you! I have money! We can live together! I-I can't live without you!' Bertolt cried.

'But I can.' Annie pushed Bertolt away. She grabbed the vase and unlocked the door, only to be greeted by a fist that knocked her unconscious.

'Selfless girl and selfish boy. Who would I choose to kill?' Kenny smiled and took the vase Annie was holding.

Bertolt was afraid. He will not die here. Screw Annie, he would step out from this massacre alive. 'Please, kill Annie! Don't kill me! I can give you a lot of money!'

'I like the selfish boy. He begged for his life,' Kenny said. Bertolt smiled.

'That's right. Choose Annie and I'll give you money.'

'Nope.' Kenny smashed the vase into Bertolt's face. It broke, and the part he was holding was jagged and sharp. He then proceeded to swing the broken vase on the boy's face.

Bertolt was screaming in pain. His face was bloody, and he can't see. 'Why? I can give you anything you wished for! Why didn't you choose me?!'

'Because, she is brave. And I like to leave the best 'till the last.' Kenny dropped the broken piece and took out a dagger from his pocket. He brought the blade across Bertolt's neck slowly, enjoying the boy's agony.

The light in Bertolt's eyes slowly faded away.

xXoXx

Eren, Mikasa and Armin hid in the bathroom and boarded up the door with some cabinets.

'God, that guy's lost it! He's freaking insane!' Eren leaned on a wall, panting.

'Thank god he can't get in here for now.' Armin sat on the toilet.

Mikasa tore down a towel rack. 'If he came in, I'll kill him.'

The trio sat together, waiting for the cabinets to tumble down. Then Armin realised something.

It was too quiet.

He quickly searched for a ventilation fan, only to find a square metal board screwed tightly in its place.

'What's up, Armin? You look like you saw a ghost.' Eren and Mikasa stood up.

'We're trapped. The vent's sealed!' Armin exclaimed.

'Fuck.' They quickly pushed the cabinets blocking the door aside. The door's gaps between the door and the wall had been covered with wet rugs. They tried to open the door, but it won't budge. Then, they heard gunshots.

'Oh god. Why is this happening?' Eren started to panic. He kicked the door.

'Eren, keep calm. Breathe slowly. Don't talk.'

Eren nodded. After what seems like forever, they began to feel dizzy.

'Armin, are we going to die?' Eren asked.

'I don't know,' Armin replied.

More time passed. Breathing seemed to be more difficult for the three teens. Spots began to litter their vision.

One by one, they fell on the floor.

The last thing Armin heard before fading into unconsciousness is the sound of a door opening and laughter.

xXoXx

Jean crouched behind one of the couches that is nearest to the wall. He saw Ymir and Historia being knocked out by Kenny. Sasha was later carried out from the kitchen and thrown on the couch.

Kenny then went to the second floor. After a little while, he heard a _thump_ sound, then gunshots. He nearly shouted out loud.

Then, what he saw terrified him: Connie and Reiner lifeless bodies rolling down the stairs, with bullet wounds on their bodies, Kenny following them.

He quickly ducked down behind the couch. He feared that Kenny might have saw him. Just as he was going to peek, a bone-chilling scream came from one of the rooms in the corridor. Then footsteps, something hitting the floor.

He recognized the scream as Bertolt's. _He must be dead already._ Jean thought.

He finally dared to look. Sasha, Ymir, Historia and Annie are propped on the couch. Reiner and Connie's bodies are lying on the floor. Bertolt's body is the most horrifying. His face is mutilated beyond recognising, and his throat his slit.

Slit throat. That's right, where's the bodies of the three adults? He looked around the room, but he didn't see them.

'When did you get there?'

Jean froze. Kenny had found him. He forgot to hide. Now he's going to die.

He turned to look at Kenny. The murderer is carrying his three unconscious friends, a confused expression on his face.

'Never mind. Seven is enough.' He pulled out a pistol and fired.

Jean stared at the bullet that was fired at him. Time seemed to slow down. He can clearly see the bullet flying towards him.

 _Why don't I dodge?_ Jean thought. He still didn't move.

The bullet went through his head and killed him immediately.


End file.
